Thursday, September 07, 2006

Halti Collar For Puller Canines

On the advice of Daphne, I checked out the Halti collar she recommended for my Newfy, a dog - she is correct to point out - was bred to pull (drowning people to shore). Lately I have been having trouble reining her in when we walk her with our other dog. Reining him in has helped, but it is a pain in the already-injured shoulder for his walker to keep him that way, so... Perhaps the Halti is the way to go. The only thing I don't like about it is that it looks like a muzzle which certainly has the potential to scare people off. I don't want that to happen because she already tends to be wary of people. So, the way I see it, she could wear the Halti at night when we don't tend to run into anyone anyway. It is also the time we are most likely to walk the two little monsters together. Thanks Daphne for the great suggestion!

1 comment:

Use the Halti as a conversation starter, mention what its for and explain that without it she would go barreling down the street and run someone over. You'd be suprised how many either a) already know what a halti is (they are quite common used on therapy dogs and assistance dogs in training or b) are thrilled that you are taking the initiative to actually have a well behaved dog that is trained in a humane way.

Everyone else can just buzz off in my opinion, what you do with your dog and your training methods are your business.

Also a good trick for teaching her to like strangers is to always carry treats, we carried Snausages for our lab Diesel, and when people approach and ask to pet say "Sure, tell her to sit and you can give her this treat" before you know she'll be friends with everyone! The quickest way to a dog's heart is through its tummy :o) This also is a good way to reinforce polite treat taking.

The trick I used with Stormy, as shelties are notorious for being standoffish with anyone but their owners is that I took him EVERYWHERE. We went to the grocery store and practiced heeling up and down the sidewalks, I was able to take him into the car repair place and I took him back into the garage, my Mom's a big yardsaler so we went to those as often as possible and I encouraged as much petting/holding (in Katy's case hugging cause she's too big to hold), basically take her to wherever she can go that has people. Basically she will soon get desensitized but the only way to end her fear is to expose her and show her there is nothing to fear, Cesar Milan (his methods are awesome) trained a dog like this on one of his shows and he stressed a calm-assertive attitude from the owner, don't accept cowering or hiding behind you make them walk beside you and conquer their fear. I'll try to find out what episode that was, so maybe you can get a copy.

About Me

I'm a papermaker, a newspaper editor, and have a PhD in primate social psychology — I guess you could say I am a paper expert! Toddler Field Notes and her two canine companions — both Newfoundlands — make frequent appearances here.